Spiderweb Software’s newest game, a remake of the original Avernum 2, was released just a few days ago. Let’s talk about it!

I should probably say right now that I’m a huge fan of Spiderweb Software. The games appeal to me, being heavy on story and strategy.

Now that I’ve said that, the newest game is incredibly heavy on story. It’s the continuation of the story started in Avernum: Escape from the Pit, but you don’t need to have played the first game to fully understand the story of the second. There are small references that you’ll get if you’ve played Escape, but nothing game-breaking.

The first storyboard.

The game begins with some storyboards. Apparently, after a group of assassins from Avernum tried to assassinate the Emperor, the Empire decided that Avernum needed to be purged. So they sent down a bunch of soldiers and began to wage a war. The Avernites are holding their own, being used to the caves, but the Empire is slowly making headway. The actual gameplay starts you out at a small fort in NE Avernum, under attack by nephil (think Avatar) and goblins. You, a lowly soldier of Avernum (you’re mining out storerooms at the beginning of the game) are quickly called into action and sent to clear out

Where you start. Your party will probably look a little different than mine. I did a slightly different setup than the game defaults you to.

nephil camps, run errands, and figure out just what those magical barriers are, and who created them.

(I’m not sure if the “magical barriers” are the demo-barriers or not. I always play through the full demo before buying the game, as Jeff (the guy who makes these games) tends to be rather creative about how he denotes the demo areas, and I think it’s hilarious, some of the things he does. Fourth-wall breaking, the NPC’s not being sure why you have “demo” next to your name on checkpoint lists….) I’m assuming you essentially beat the Empire all by yourself in the end. I don’t know yet though.

Avernum 2: Crystal Souls utilizes a turn-based combat system, as do all the Spiderweb games. Avernum 2 features multiple character classes and three races: human, slith (think Godzilla… except way smaller) and the nephilim. Skills are appropriately medieval – swords, spears, and magic (okay, not medieval) abound.

Overall, I really love this game so far. Avernum: EftP was one of my favorite games so far (Geneforge 5 is still my absolute favorite Spiderweb game) and the story for this one seems interesting. I love RPG’s, and I’m sure the game will get better as I go along. It’s definitely better than Avadon 2. (I liked it okay, but not my favorite.)

Avernum 2: Crystal Souls is currently available for Mac and PC, with the iPad version coming soon. I’d highly recommend you try it out. I’d say it’s appropriate for 12 and up.

There’s a bunch of interesting things coming out. Listed are the things I’m personally most interested in that are scheduled for release this year. This list includes video games, movies, and TV. Possible spoilers ahead, especially in the TV.

TV:

Marvel’s Agent Carter Jan 6

This looks relatively interesting. Mostly because it would be the beginnings of S.H.I.E.L.D, which we know she helped found. Plus, I always liked Agent Carter. A short series on her should be interesting.

Doctor Who (Series 9) Unknown

I like Doctor Who. That’s all there is to it. I still haven’t seen Series 8 yet, so no opinions formed on Capaldi’s Doctor yet. I’m still sad over Matt Smith leaving, but that was an epic speech at the end of Time of the Doctor, no?

Do you want to build a snowman?

Once Upon a Time (Series 4, part 2) March 1

I’m still sad over Mr. Gold being forced out of Storybrooke at the end of Heroes and Villains. Yes, he deserved it. Can’t have his cake and eat it too. But for a villain, he’s strangely likable. 🙂 I wonder what the second half of the season will hold.

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Video Games:

The cover art is cool.

Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (3DS) Spring 2015

Yes! One of the few Zelda games I have missing from my collection. Granted, this is probably the darkest entry in the series, but it should still be fun. I shall help you save Termina, Link!

Minecraft: Story Mode (Mac) Unknown

I like Minecraft. This idea appeals to me. A story based on Minecraft? Hey, I’ll give it a try.

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Movies: Whoo, lots of these. Sorry ’bout that. I like my movies.

Love the dress.

Cinderella (March 13)

Live-action version of Cinderella? It’ll be an official Disney version, so it should follow the animated movie fairly closely. Live action Cinderella-type stories have been done, yes, but always based on the general Cinderella story.

Avengers Assemble!

Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1)

Second Avengers movie? Yeah, I’ll go see it. Superheroes are cool, and so is Marvel. (Not to say DC isn’t cool, but I don’t see a movie from them this year. Next year, yes.) Looking forward to this, glad it’s just the original six. I wouldn’t have enjoyed a giant pile of superheroes like Justice League: Unlimited.

Tomorrowland (May 22)

I saw a trailer for this while at the theater for Mockingjay – Part 1. It looked like a fairly cool movie, even from the teaser trailer. It looks like a mix of sci-fi and fantasy to me. Maybe just sci-fi.

Inside Out (June 19)

Any Pixar movie gets a watch, no matter how strange it may seem. However, this does look relatively entertaining from the trailers.

Pan (July 24)

Disney’s really going all out with their live action remakes this year. I’m going to see this one on principle. I see everything with Peter Pan, no matter how poorly acted and/or written. It’s my thing.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (November 20)

I’m going to see this for one reason: I can’t leave the series unfinished. I hope it lives up to expectations. I’ll be sad if it doesn’t.

It’s a dinosaur film – and not violent like Jurassic Park. What more can you ask for?

The Good Dinosaur (November 25)

Once again, Pixar earns priority status. We love Pixar films over here – I think we own every Pixar film ever. I even have all the shorts on DVD. This movie looks cute, from what I can tell from promo summaries.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (December 18)

I love Star Wars. Please Disney, don’t ruin it. That means a lot coming from me, since I even like the new trilogy.

There were some films that didn’t make it onto the list, even though I might go see them anyways. Ant-Man, The Fantastic Four, and The Jungle Book all look interesting, despite my love of the Ioan Gruffudd Fantastic Four films, my lack of knowledge of Ant-Man, and my interest in how they’ll pull off a live-action Jungle Book. However, they aren’t priority. Of course, I probably won’t see half of the films on the list until they come out on DVD anyways. Movies are expensive, y’all.

As for the TV shows… well, let’s hope I can stream them (legally) online. I don’t have TV, oddly enough.

I ended up getting quite a few video games over the course of 2014. Hey, I like my 3DS! Unfortunately, no Mac games made it onto my list this year, mostly because the only game that appealed to me was Civilization: Beyond Earth, and it’s ridiculously expensive. However, I have four 3DS games that I really enjoyed this year. Games are in order of release date.

1. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (February 28)

I talked about this one way back when in this post. Azran Legacy was an excellent finale to the Professor Layton series, and my only regret is that it’s the last game in the series to feature Layton as the protagonist. We’ll miss you, Professor!

I still recommend this game for anyone who enjoys puzzles and mysteries. 9/10, recommended 9 and up.

2. Disney Magical World (April 11)

This is one of those games I picked up on a whim. Magical World is a mostly open-ended, almost sandbox type game that I still have not managed to finish. I say mostly and almost – there’s seasonal content to be had and quests to accomplish, but I see very little to do after you have all the outfits, recipes, furniture, and all 100 stickers. However, it may have replay value, and it can take quite awhile to finish. (Granted, this is coming from someone who takes years to reach max level in any MMO ever made, so…) I’m going to say 7/10, and recommended 6 and up.

3. Tomodachi Life (June 6)

Another game I talked about way back when, this is truly a sandbox game. A cross between Animal Crossing and The Sims, this is a rather cute game for people who like The Sims or Animal Crossing, but want something less realistic than the former and less time-consuming than the latter. Plus, if you have to put it down for several months, no weeding is required. Yay for that! However, this is less like Sims in that Miis have a mind of their own, so no matter how much you may push it, Iron Man may not fall in love with Batgirl. (Yeah, we tried that… I can’t even get Nightwing to be friends with her. On the upside, Joker and Batman seem to have put aside their differences. I saw them playing soccer together. Weird.) 8/10, recommended 7 and up.

4. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (August 29)

A crossover between the Professor and the Ace Attorney, this quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. With the puzzles of Layton and the court cases of Wright, this game is definitely worth picking up. Plus, as I said when I originally talked about it shortly after its release, everybody likes a good old-fashioned witch trial! 9/10, recommended 12 and up.

There were a few other games/game combos released this year that I have plans to pick up in the next few weeks – Fantasy Life and LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham come to mind. Overall though, I was actually pretty impressed with my few selections from the myriad of released games this year, although none top A Link Between Worlds from last year. What can I say, despite the awesomeness of Batman and Professor Layton, nobody stands up to Link.

Video Game Wednesdays criteria include a) being electronic in nature and b) being a game

A Link Between Worlds is the latest installment in the Legend of Zelda series – something that a lot of people will remember.

I just finished this game the other day after receiving it for Christmas. It had a little more of an open-world feel rather than a linear progression of dungeons, which I loved. Ravio’s Shop was a great addition, allowing you to complete dungeons in (almost) any order. Link looked like he should, in my opinion, (no offense to people who prefer a different look, like the Twilight Princess game.) The storyline was interesting, and the ending was great. Some of the extra challenges, like the chicken dodging mini game or Octoball were a little difficult. I was able to complete the game without the extra heart pieces though, so it wasn’t a big deal, really. My gaming OCD was annoyed, however. The street pass battles were a lot of fun as well.

The story goes something like this (with spoilers:)

Link is oversleeping (again.) Gulley, the blacksmith’s son, comes along to wake him up, and takes him to the blacksmith (where Link works.)

The captain soldier guy has just left, forgetting his sword. The blacksmith sends Link to take it back. Link goes to the Sanctuary, where the captain and the priest’s daughter have been turned into paintings by Yuga, a guy with a superiority complex, a bit of magic, a thing for paintings, and an ill-advised plan to bring Ganon back from the dead. Basically, not a great guy. Yuga kicks Link out of the way when you try to stop him, knocking him out. Ravio finds him a little later, and gives him a really (honestly) ugly bracelet. Link then proceeds to the castle, where we meet Zelda. She gives us the Pendant of Courage, and sends us to conquer two dungeons to get the other two, the Pendant of Wisdom and the Pendant of Power. Starting to sound familiar?

We visit an older guy called Sahasrahla who tells us Yuga’s going after the descendants of the Seven Sages to try and revive Ganon. Not a good thing. We go to the Eastern Palace, meet up with Yuga, where, after a short battle, he turns us into a painting.

Poor Link.

But that bracelet that Ravio gives us fills up with the magic from the painting spell, and allows us to become a painting at any time. The bracelet had a use after all! We then rush back to the castle, only to find that Yuga got there first. Great. So, we run back out, finish getting the pendants, grab the Master Sword from the Lost Woods, and head back to the castle.

We reach the top just in time for Yuga to turn Zelda into a painting, and disappear through a crack that seriously reminds me in a way of Series 5 of Doctor Who. We follow him through, and come out in a darker, Twilight Zone-esque version of Hyrule Castle, and proceed to watch Yuga revive Ganon using the eight paintings (Seven Sages and Zelda) that he has, and then meld with Ganon to become Yuga-Ganon, acquiring the Triforce of Power (which Ganon had.) Great plan, Yuga. We’re saved by a girl named Hilda, who turns out to be the princess of this place, which is called Lorule. She tells us to rescue the Seven Sages, who are now scattered across Lorule in dungeons. Fun! We go out across the land, using the cracks to get back and forth, and rescue the sages, who then give us the Triforce of Courage. Go Link!

We head back to Lorule Castle, where it turns out that Hilda was the real mastermind here, trying to get Hyrule’s Triforce to replace Lorule’s, which was destroyed. Epic twist ending… though you may have seen it coming. Yuga-Ganon absorbs Hilda, getting the Triforce of Wisdom (which she had taken from Zelda.) Oh joy. Two out of three for the enemy… not a great track record.

We then fight Yuga-Ganon for what seems like forever, until he starts turning into paintings. Wonderful. Zelda (who’s still a painting) gives us the Bow of Light, which can only be fired as a painting. We shoot Yuga-Ganon a few times, alternating between painting and solid form battle, till we finally get him in the back. Yuga-Ganon is destroyed, Hilda is freed, and she proceeds to try and kill us.

Ravio shows up, and reveals himself to be Link’s Lorule counterpart… except he’s kind of a coward, which is why he came to Hyrule, to look for us to stop Hilda. He convinces Hilda that stealing Hyrule’s Triforce is a bad, bad idea, and she relents. Zelda and Link are sent home, but end up in the Sacred Realm with the Triforce. They then wish for Lorule’s Triforce to be rebuilt, saving Lorule.

In final credits, scenes showing what happened to the Seven Sages after they went home play. The final scene is of Link returning the Master Sword to the woods, as it is no longer needed. Sniff.

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Overall, this was a great game. I would highly recommend it if you like puzzle, Zelda, or adventure games.

Legend of Zelda – Link Between Worlds is for the 3DS system. You can buy it just about anywhere.